Archive for March 25th, 2007

$500 and publication in Big Muddy. Best short story relating to Mississippi River, River Valley, or sister River.$15 fee includes copy of Big Muddy with winning story. MRSS Contest, Southeast Missouri State University Press, MS 2650 One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701. Guidelines: www6.semo.edu/universitypress/mrss

Cash prizes: $2000; $1000 in poetry/$1000 in prose. Each published contributor receives one free copy of the anthology; perfect-bound, trade paper original of approximately 230 pages. We nominate for Pushcart Prizes.

Theme: “A Walk Through My Garden”; in the tradition of writers who garden (or appreciate gardens, parks, forests, window boxes, greenhouses, etc.) and gardeners who write. We interpret the theme broadly. This is our 13th annual anthology in our acclaimed series which welcomes submissions as follows: Poetry to 28 lines and essays and fiction to 2500 words. Previously published material okay.

Judge: World renowned poet/essayist Marvin Bell.

Entry Fee: $12 for up to 4 poems; each essay or short fiction for TallGrass Writers Guild members/$16 for nonmembers. Can send poetry + prose. No limit on number of entries: up to 8 poems $24/$32; 2 essays $24/$32, etc. Payable to TallGrass Writers Guild.

Kickoff Reading: Prize winners + selected contributors will participate in our Kickoff Reading, a featured program of the Chicago Tribune Printers Row Book Fair, the nation’s third largest event of its kind. Date: Sunday morning, June 10, 2007.

NonFiction
Judge: Jo Ann Beard
First place winner receives $1000 and publication. Second and Third prize winners receive publication.

To enter:
1. Essay submissions should not exceed 10,000 words in length.
2. Enclose a cover letter that contains a short biographical sketch and a current email address, mailing address, phone number, and the title of your essay.
3. Send an SASE for acceptance notification.
4. Enclose a $20 reading fee, payable to Fugue, that guarantees consideration and a copy of the journal that includes the contest winners.

Poetry
Judge: TBA
First place winner receives $1000 and publication. Second and Third prize winners receive publication.

To enter:
1. Poetry submissions should not exceed 3 poems or 5 pages.
2. Enclose a cover letter that contains a short biographical sketch and a current email address, mailing address, phone number, and the titles of your poems.
3. Send an SASE for acceptance notification.
4. Enclose a $20 reading fee, payable to Fugue, that guarantees consideration and a copy of the journal that includes the contest winners.

Writers of short fiction are encouraged to enter the 2007 Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition to vie for $2,000 in cash prizes. The literary competition is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a nationally distributed publication with a circulation of 5,000 or more.

The first-place winner will receive $1,000 in cash, while the second- and third- place winners will receive $500 apiece. Judges will also award honorable mentions to other entrants whose work demonstrates promise.

The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition was created in 1981 to support and encourage the efforts of writers who have not yet achieved major-market success. Lorian Hemingway, the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, is the author of the critically acclaimed novel “Walking into the River,” the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize nominee “Walk on Water,” and the powerfully evocative “A World Turned Over.”

To be eligible for the 2007 competition, stories must be original, unpublished, typed and double-spaced, and 3,000 words or less. There are no theme restrictions, but only works of fiction will be considered. Writers’ names should not appear on the stories, and manuscripts will not be returned. Copyright remains the property of the author. (We do not accept e-mailed submissions.)

Each story should be accompanied by a cover sheet with the writer’s name, complete address, e-mail address, phone number, and title of the piece. The entry fee is $10 for each story postmarked by May 1, 2007, and $15 for each story postmarked between May 1 and May 15, 2007. Entries postmarked after May 15 will not be accepted.

Winners will be announced at the end of July 2007 in Key West, Florida. All entrants will receive a letter from Lorian Hemingway and a list of winners-either via mail or e-mail-by October 1, 2007.

The Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition has a twenty-six-year history of literary excellence, and its organizers are dedicated to supporting the efforts of emerging writers of short fiction.

All manuscripts and their accompanying entry fees should be sent to the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition, P.O. Box 993, Key West, FL 33041.

Virginia Merle Brendemuehl (1921-1999) dreamed of being a concert pianist in an era where
girlsespecially unmarried redheaded daughters off small town judgeswere expected to teach, accompany the local soloist, or playy organ in church. All of which she did, but with panache and a madcap zest for making music fun and culturally relevant. An ardent world traveler, patriot, and lifelong supporter of artists, she invested her passionate faith and talents in others, whether they be the children of foreign diplomats or heartland dairy farmers. She had perfect pitch. Loved bikinis and gaudy earrings. Eagerly anticipated familial pranks on her April Fool’s birthday. Mercurial, yet extravagantly generous, her persona may best be expressed by the family’s Yuletide slogan: “Yes, Santa, there
really is a Virginia.” To the end of life, she doted on guava juice, prayer, flamboyant clothing, and her two nieces and nephew, who joyfully endow this contest in her name.

GUIDELINES:

First Place: $1,000 plus publication in Rock & Sling

Finalists: Publication in Fall 2007 Rock & Sling

Contest Deadline: July 31, 2007 postmark

Entry fee is $10.00 for three poems. You may enter as many groups of three as you like. Payment (check or money order please) must accompany submission.

Name, address, and phone number must appear in the upper right hand corner of each poem.

Poems will be judged based on literary quality and in consideration of our vision statement. We encourage entrants to visit our website to gain a sense of the kinds of poems we seek.

Poems that have been previously published or have received monetary awards are not eligible. Though Rock & Sling generally accepts simultaneous submissions with notification, we request no simultaneous submissions for the contest.

Manuscripts will not be returned.

Winners will be notified by September 1, 2007 and will be posted on our website thereafter. For notification of receipt of your manuscript, include a self-addressed, stamped postcard.
Return envelopes will be discarded; all manuscripts will be recycled, not returned.

Rock & Sling is not responsible for late, lost, or misdirected manuscripts. Submit poetry and
check or money order (U.S. funds) to: